Rotary screen separators are often used to process effluent such as waste from a dairy operation. Generally speaking, rotary screen separators separate a feed material into solid and liquid components by displacing the feed material along a first side of a screen such that solid material remains on the first side and liquid material passes through perforations in the screen to a second side thereof.
Conventionally, rotary screen separators employ a screen having a single predetermined screen size. When a conventional rotary screen is provided with a screen having fine openings, very little solid material passes through the screen. However, a screen with fine openings also does not allow as much liquid material through the perforations as does a coarse screen. Conversely, a coarse screen allows an increased volume of liquid material to flow through the perforations, but a separator having a coarse screen may allow an undesirably high volume of the solids to escape with the increased volume of liquid material.
Conventional rotary screen separators employ a cylindrical feed tube configured to deposit the effluent in an inlet portion of the screen separator. The need exists for an improved rotary screen separator that optimizes the manner in which the effluent feed material is deposited within the separator to increase the efficiency by which the solids and water components of the feed material are separated.